August 5 2011﻿ InterMune Loss Rise, Costs Flare Up﻿

InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ:ITMN) posted second-quarter adjusted loss per share of 68 cents, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss per share of 61 cents and the year-ago loss per share of 44 cents. Steeper operating expenses resulted in the higher loss in the reported quarter.

InterMune reported revenues of $6.2 million in the second quarter, above the year-ago revenue of $5.9 million and also ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.0 million. Increased collaboration revenue from Roche Holdings Ltd. (RHHBY) was partially offset by lower revenues of InterMune’s only marketed drug Actimmune. Revenues were however below $6.4 million recorded in the sequentially preceding quarter.

During the reported quarter, research and development (R&D) expenses spiked 36% to $20.1 million in preparation of the ASCEND trial (discussed below).

General and administrative (G&A) expenses shot up 70% to $21.7 million primarily due to increased legal costs from establishing the European infrastructure, global intellectual property expansions, and higher stock based compensation expenses.